Life After War
by FeatherTreeForest
Summary: Mom has finally put her foot down; off we go to the family farm in Virginia. Will it be all sunshine and roses like mom wants? I doubt it. It will be a hard adjustment, life after war, but we'll survive like we did everything else. *Being revised* Read the Author's note that should be up shortly...
1. Prologue (revised)

**A/N:** If you haven't read my A/N in the chapter 15 slot yet, I suggest you do that. I would also like to apologize for neglecting this for so long. A good six months at least. But, here it is so enjoy and expect the Chapter One revision up some time soon.

Prologue

_Luxa's POV_

I stood there in the light of a single torch for what seemed like forever before I could tare my eyes away from the spot where Gregor had stood. I took a step towards the stone, tempted to move it and run after Gregor to- to do what? I didn't know.

With a shuddering gasp, I turned on my heel and dove into Aurora's wings, trying desperately to hold back tears. I couldn't afford tears at the moment; tears were distracting and told all creatures in no uncertain terms how shaken the loss of Gregor had made me. It felt like he had been there from the very beginning and, in a way, he had been. Even when I had lost faith in everything and was ready to let it all go, he had been there, reminding me why I should keep going.

_I will not cry. I will __not__ cry. I. Will. Not. Cry!_ I thought vehemently even as tears silently seeped out from under my eye lids to run down my face in two glistening streams.

"It's all right, it'll be alright, you'll see," came a very familiar voice from the shadows. It was Ripred who stepped into the flickering torch light and to my side as I new it would be, emanating a calm feeling. There had been a time not even a full two years ago when I would have viewed him with fear and suspicion if not out-right hatred. But as he placed a paw on my shoulder, a paw attached to claws with which I had seen him rip an opponent's throat out with barely more than a twitch, I felt only the comfort of a Bond. "It's not like you'll never see him again." His voice was no longer kind and reassuring, but matter of fact. Even in the emotional state I was quickly sinking into I could tell he was rolling his eyes.

I looked up at him, blinking rapidly to clear my vision before narrowing them in an attempt to keep them from watering. "What mean you of this?" I asked with a slight sniffle.

"Exactly what I just said," He replied in his trade mark this-should-be-obvious,-are-you- seriously-going-to-make-me-repeat-myself? tone. "Lover Boy," this he said with a dash of sarcasm, "doesn't have the ability to move on; and by the looks of it, you aren't going any where any time soon in that respect either. He'll be back, so pull your self together and get your royal behind back to Regalia! We have a city to rebuild, points to argue, and compromises to reach. Your people need their Queen to have a clear head on her shoulders, so stop sniveling and get going!"

I couldn't help the tiny smile that appeared at his proclamation as I dried my face with a sleeve. How very typical of him. "You are right Ripred." I stood up and squared my shoulders. "Let us go."

_Oh, Gregor,_ I thought as Aurora flew me back to Regalia with Ripred running below us, _I will not give up without a fight, I am to head strong for that, but remember that I love you and come back to me some day. Just come back... _


	2. Chapter One (revised)

**A/N: **I suck. I realize this. Just for the record, I more than doubled the original leangth, ending at nearly 1600 words. On with the chapter!

Chapter One

_Gregor's POV_

I stared at the back of the seat in front of me with my eyes slightly unfocused, just…thinking. I decided that was one of the worst things about air planes: there was nothing to do on them except think, and that was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment. I briefly wondered if I should wake Boots up for some company since everybody else was asleep- or otherwise occupied- but decided against it.

I filtered out all the annoying sounds around me, slowly working to ignore the echoes they caused, and let myself zone out. It was time consuming to close my hearing senses off, but it wasn't like there was anything interesting to do anyway. Or watch for. little by little, a memory started to surface, one I hadn't thought of in a very long time. A memory of a sweltering summer day so long ago, when all I had to deal with was babysitting my little sister for a couple of weeks instead of going to the summer camp for city kids_._ The day my reality had changed and my view of the world had taken a heavy blow. For better or for worse was still undecided; for while there were things I wish I could forget, I couldn't imagine it never happening and growing up just another kid.

_Man; that feels like forever and a day ago._

I had been through so much since then that I barely knew what to do with the things from my old life: my saxophone, my track uniform, even my friends. It had been almost (read: unbelievably) awkward going through the rest of the school year with them, trying to act like everything was _normal_. Making up excuses for wearing long sleeves even in the sweltering heat of July, and dodging questions about what was going on and why I had refused to see them when I was "sick".

While the lies came easier the more I said them, I had to struggle to get them past my tongue which had suddenly felt thick and slow once confronted by them face to face. I really _really_ hadn't wanted to lie to them, but I couldn't very well have told them the truth. 'Yeah, um, you see, it all began when I fell down an air shaft in my laundry room and got taken through a bunch of tunnels to this city full of purple eyed people by a group of giant cockroaches…..'

Uh… No.

So I went with the obvious: that I didn't want them to catch it and get sick and I had so much homework to catch up on when I felt well enough to work and… blah blah _blah_. Larry accepted it right off the bat as I hoped he would. He had never been one to question. Angelina was the one that kept giving me searching I-know-your-not-telling-the-truth looks for the rest of the day. The rest of the year, to be honest. I knew she hadn't believed a word of it, not that I was going to push the subject. As long as they left it alone and didn't try to dig into it, they could believe what they wanted.

They had been friends to the old Gregor, the one that had been around before war was relatively typical and the sight of blood was common enough not to even send Lizzy into the slightest of panic attacks. I hadn't been able to find it in me to care about a whole lot of anything beyond my immediate family in the beginning, but now I hoped that they would remember me the way I had been, not what I had become. Even if they didn't know what had changed.

It was hard to remember what I had done before. What life had been like when I was innocent and wouldn't have even imagined what it was like to kill. What it was like to slide a blade between ribs and- No. I was not going there. Not now.

I shook my head to clear it of all thoughts of that other place (not that it was likely to stay that way for long), refocused my eyes, and let the surrounding sounds flood in before giving a shuddering sigh. Someone behind me gave a demanding, "Shhhh!" For a moment I had the intense urge to turn around and stick my tongue out at them. I never got the chance, though, because right at that moment there was a crackle of static and the over head speakers came on.

"Will all passengers please return to their seats to the upright position and buckle your seat belts. We are preparing to land, thank you."

"Oh!" Lizzy said, jerking awake and almost smacking me in the nose with the top of her head as I tried to snap in her buckle. "Are we almost there?"

"Yeah, now sit still; I'm trying to buckle this in." _Click_. "Okay, I got it." I sat back down and did my own buckle. Mom had just finished getting Boots, who was still snoozing, settled when the Pilot came on again, "Excuse me all passengers! We have just received permission to land."

_Thank goodness!_ I closed my eyes and let my head flop back in relief._ I can't wait to get off this thing. I wished I could be riding on a bat right now instead of this flying tin tub._

I exhaled a breath out my nose in frustration. Two minutes. I hadn't even managed two minutes before I had slipped up again. Liz leaned on the arm of her seat and started tapping on the unoccupied plastic arm of my chair in what would appeare to anybody else as a random tune. Of course, I knew better.

It took me a moment to translate it: _You've been doing that a lot lately. Are you okay?_

I tapped back: _I'm hanging in there, just_…I paused for a moment before continuing, _thinking about them__._ I subconsciously reached down under my seat to my carry-on bag where Ares' claw had been packed. Lizzy nodded in understanding and reflexively slid her hand along the slick, pink waterproof plastic side of her own bag, which had not been moved from her lap the entire flight. It was the same strings-for-straps backpack I had given her on that ledge where we had made camp before the final battle. It was probably still full of flashlights and batteries, not to mention the magnetic chess set. I pulled my eyes away from a small red stain on one of the strings and back to her hands, waiting for the reply I knew was coming.

_I know, I can't get them off my mind either. I wonder how the rebuilding is going? Regalia is going to look really good when there finished. I really wish we… _

It was clear she wasn't going to finish the thought –not that she had to, we both knew very well what she had meant- and I was about to respond when I caught mom out of the corner of my eye giving us a clearly disapproving glare.

Oops.

She had tried repeatedly throughout the remaining time in New York to stop Lizzie from playing out the code to the point of flat out demanding that she discontinue the endeavor. But, Grace's middle child had apparently grown a back bone when no-one been looking and had informed her in an overly emotional voice, "I refuse to forget what we have all been put through and how this family has changed! What is done is** done** and we can never go back to the way it used to be. Why can't you see that!?"

Lizzy had then burst into tears, dove into Gregor's arms, and buried her face in his chest. Mom had looked like she had just been slapped. The apartment was clouded with a morbid atmosphere that even Boots felt as both Lizzy and Gregor kept to themselves for the following three days.

I could understand why she didn't like any kind of reminder of our time in the Underland, but not that she expected us to up and forget the whole thing. Like Lizzy had so adamantly declared, **that** was never going to happen. I mean, there was no way for usto forget even if we had wanted to with so many physical and psychological reminders.

Boots muttering to herself or toys in crawler. Lizzy constantly tapping out messages via the tree of transmission or springing a Ripred reference. The purple smears on mom's skin, marks left by the plague. Dad's lingering illness from his time with the rats. The scars all over my body. Then the falling dreams that had come back with a vengeance after I had lost Areas. The nightmares of blood and death I sometimes woke from in a cold sweat. The thoughts of all those left behind that didn't seem to entirely disappear.

All reminders of a world below our feet were wars were started by eleven-year-old Queens, bugs and rodents alike grew to enormous proportions, bats and spiders talked, and mice loved math.

No one in this family is going to forget anything, no matter how hard Mom tried to make us. It's all down to how long it takes her to dig her head out of the sand and admit that we've changed. I think that, if she can accept that, we might just be alright.

It would defiantly be a start.

**A/N: **Did I ever tell you guys that the song that gives me much of the inspiration for this story is 'I Just Came Back From a War' by Darryl Worley? Well, now I did. You should look it up.


	3. Chapter Two (revised)

**A\N: **As my great aunt says...compost happens. I had this ready to go New Years day, but the entire week conspired against me until I found time.

Chapter Two

_Abby's POV_

I woke up in the pitch dark with a roaring headache.

"Oooh…" I moaned and reached up with a hand to feel the back of my head. Yup, there was a large goose egg growing back there. I must have hit my head on the way down- wait. What…? _Where am I!?_

I scrambled around to only find dirt. I struggled to focus on my surroundings, but it really was too dark to see anything.

_Unless I… _I began before mentally squashing the half-thought. I carefully breathed in an out with my mouth, years of practice enabling me to nearly bypass my nose entirely. Not that it stopped me from _smelling,_ it just brought my senses from 'suffocating' down to 'barely bearable', which was why I wore nose plugs (yes, _nose plugs_) to cut it down a little closer to the normal range. I could still catch most scents half a K-9 unit would miss, but what could I do? It was actually the reason why my mother had moved us from New York to all over the country before landing recently in the more spread out area of…of? We had been there-? We were going to leave in…?

"Ugh!" I clutched at my head as pain spiked.

_Why can't I remember!?_ I scrunched up my face and squeezed my eyes shut in concentration but nothing came. I was drawing a total blank. My eyes snapped open (still wasn't doing anything for me) and I started scuttling around on my hands and knees again; panic flooding in and drowning out the pain as I continued to feel nothing but dirt and a few thin, whip-like things that were probably roots.

Desperately, I took a hold of that mentally; it was something to focus on in the black confusion. Deep and calming were the breaths that came next as I tried to relax. Something small and decidedly crawly dropped onto my shoulder as I pulled in air in my position against the wall and I brushed it away with a hurried hand and a small "Eek!". Bugs were not my thing. Something made its way over my out-stretched foot with quick steps that had me kicking out before pulling it in close. Hugging my knees in the best way to keep everything in close, I couldn't help flinching as the sound of dirt crumbling reached my ears from the darkness and the snuffling sound of a mole faded as it headed away.

_Where…where am I? _

~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~

_Luxa's POV_

I looked around at all the streamers and decorations that covered the arena, not to mention the people dancing in the middle, and had to smile. I watched as Hazard swung through the steps of a dance with a little girl of the same age and stumbled back a couple steps in realization, sitting down heard on the ground when I felt I could no longer stay upright.

Memory exploded in my brain and suddenly I was dancing the very same steps I had just watched Hazard do, at a very similar birthday party. Gregor had my hand firmly clasped in his as we stepped forward and back in time to the music. Then his hands were on my waist, my feet left the floor, and I was spun around before he finished by 'placing down what he carried'. It felt so real that if I couldn't still feel the moss of the arena floor clenched in my hands, I would have thought I was back at the happy day when Hazard turned seven. I hadn't been able to stop laughing then, Gregor had looked happier than he had in a while and was finally enjoying himself. His mother had still been recovering from the plague, but had been sitting off to the side that day. It had surprised everyone when she turned out to be strong enough to come. I had been absolutely giddy that he seemed to have gotten him to take his mind off of everything. He hadn't been half-bad either, for all his insistence that he couldn't dance.

"Luxa?" Ripred's voice cut through the flash back, startling me out of my reverie. I stood up, brushing lingering pieces of moss from my hands. I smoothed them down my front of my dress that I had been forced to wear for the occasion and tried to pretend that I hadn't gotten pulled down memory lane for the third time that day. For some reason it had been getting worse, the random memories used to come when I had time to myself –to much thinking time- but know they came flooding in at any reminder. Pushing away any lingering flashes, I tried to give him my full attention.

"Yes?" There was a look in his eyes that told me he knew full well what was going on and was giving me a distraction from my own thoughts.

"I do believe they are going to cut the cake. And since it is your cake, I thought you would like to cut it your self."

"So that you may have the first piece?" I asked, raising an eye brow.

"Well if you insist, then there is no way I can refuse my bond of almost two years, know is there?"

"Almost two years… Has it really been that long?" I asked quietly as I followed him towards the long table holding the food. If Ripred heard me, he hid it well. Then again, since when has Ripred never hidden something well?

~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~

_Gregor's POV_

I was falling down a stone shaft with familiar swirling white mist. Boots was next to me, squealing with glee. I tried to reach her but she was just out of range, giggling as she twisted slowly in the air. There was an inhuman scream and Boots was gone; in her place were hundreds of howling rats and I knew in the back of my mind that this had become less of a nightmare and more of a mash of memories. I could see in the light of my hard hat that the floor was getting closer. I twisted around into a more convenient position and waited for Ares to catch me.

"I cannot catch you," I heard Ares' voice whisper in my ear, "I'm dead, remember? The Bane killed me and it was your entire fault. You were not able to save me. You left me bleeding out on the _ground_." The last sentence ended in a venom filled hiss that I had never heard him direct at anyone.

"No, Ares!" I cried and flailed, trying to slow down my descent. _It's not true, it's not!_ "Ares! Please, help me…!" I never reached the bottom and Ares never came.

I jerked upright in bed, instantly wide awake and alert, heart pounding and covered in a cold sweat. I was so disoriented that even with the echoes I was getting from my rapid breathing, it took me a moment to realize I wasn't alone. I jerked away at the touch and turned to see Lizzy curled up and teetering on to the edge of my mattress. I must have almost pushed her off when I had jolted awake. She blinked up at me with a sleepy frown before her expression cleared and she put a finger to her lips in the universal sign for 'be quiet'. She pointed her chin to the side and we both looked over at my Cousin Rodney's bed as he rolled over with a grumble and kicked the wall loudly. Holding our collective breath, we waited another moment to see if he would come to. He didn't.

A questioning eye brow earned me a shake of the head as she lay back down and snuggled into a second pillow she must have brought with her. While this certainly wasn't the first time I had woken from a nightmare to find Lizzy (or Boots. Or both) next to me, I still couldn't figure out how they always knew when their presence was needed. Because having them here with me certainly helped. I didn't have to look at her to know that her breathing had evened out almost immediately; and with the black bags growing under eyes it was no wonder. She hadn't been sleeping well since we had moved, either.

I kicked free of the rest of the sheets still on the bed, careful not to disturb Liz, and stumbled down the hall into the bathroom. After splashing cold water on my face, I looked out the window and realized that it wasn't even dawn yet. A glance at the clock confirmed that it was only 3:30.

_At least I can take a shower before my cousins get up and clog the bathroom._

My cousin Rodney, being a guy, wasn't so bad about hogging bathroom time, but Rachel and Sara took forever. Three bathrooms might have sounded like a little much, but shared between ten people? They were booked quickly. Mom says that every girl needs more time with a mirror so that they can apply makeup and do there hair. I can't help thinking about Luxa whenever something like that comes up because, well, it just wasn't her. I remember very clearly that time when she had no problem chopping all her hair off for the prophecy of Gray quest because "long locks are dangerous in battle".

Of course I never mentioned that in front of _mom_, but Lizzy was another thing entirely. I could talk freely about the Underland to her. Actually, she insisted on it. She had told me once, only a couple weeks after all contact with the Underland was cut that she would do anything she could to ensure she never forgot a moment of what happened down there, no matter what Mom wanted.

Liz often disappeared for hours on end when there wasn't work to be done around the farm. I've found her up trees, sitting on large boulders in the middle of the stream, or hiding among the hay bails in the barn. I think she returns to the Underland in her mind when she hides. I wish I could join her there some times, relive the happier memories, but some things are made to be left alone. There is too much grief and sadness mixed in with my adventures than I care to disturb.

When I got out of the shower, I slipped my picture of Luxa and I into the back pocket of my jeans. I put on a cotton, long-sleeve shirt the color of mud and picked up my steel toed boots from their place at the doorway. As I walked back into the bedroom I shared with Rodney, I saw the brand new back pack hanging off a bed post, already filled with school supplies.

I grimaced at the reminder. Today was the first day of school.

From what I had already experienced of small town hospitality, they loved to stick their noses into other people's lives. Gossip was the life blood of Gansly and I hated it. Way too many questions for comfort.

_I'm just going to have to teach them that sticking there noses into my business is going to get those noses bitten off. _

My grimace turned into a smile at that, it sounded like something Ripred would say.

I dug out a flashlight and a roll of ducked tape from under my bed and slid them into the side pocket of my bag. I didn't need them, obviously, but as they say, "long habits die hard".

I purposely neglected to include my new pocket knife, which had been given to me by my uncle much to the protest of my mother. The last thing I needed was to stab someone because I couldn't keep my Rager instincts under wraps. Besides, knives weren't allowed in school.

_I'm as ready as I'll ever be, _I thought with sigh before raising my head and striating my shoulders._ So bring it on._

My alarm clock went off and the residents of Green Tomato Farm began to stir.

**A/N: **I made it to 2000 words! next stop, 2500. :D


	4. Chapter Three (revised)

**A/N: **Look at that, it's only one day late! It's a record! Yeah, I'm a terrible person, I know, but I went from 1,300 with the original chapter and got it up to 2,052 words. Granted, this _would_ have been up yesterday _morning_ if my computer hadn't gone all wonky the night before and deleted all the changes I had made up to that point.

Chapter Three

_Gregor's POV_

Lizzie held tightly to my right hand while Boots squeezed the life out of my left with a vice like grip I expected from solders, not five-year-old little girls. I expected Lizzy to be the nervous one, but she looked incredibly calm about the whole new school situation. Maybe Ripred had rubbed off on her more than I thought, which could only be a good thing.

Boots had always had this 'everyone is my friend' attitude as a toddler and I don't think that it's entirely gone, but right know you wouldn't have guessed it had existed at all. "Go ahead; I'll see you at the end." I prompted, trying unsuccessfully to loosen Boots' grip on my poor hand.

The teacher saw us and headed over. She was a short woman with graying hair and laugh lines around her blue eyes. She absolutely sparkled with mirth when she spotted Boots' death grip on my hand.

"Welcome to kindergarten. Come on munchkin, we are about to start story time. Do you like Monkeys?"

Boots nodded and hesitantly let go of my hand. I had to bite my lip to keep from groaning as the circulation started to flow back through. I watched as Boots followed the teacher over to a circle of little rugs to sit down. Lizzy and I left her to listen to Miss Emi (as she insisted everyone call her) reading about Princess Peach and the Naughty Monkey.

Next I dropped Liz off at her home room, English.

"See you in Math," I winked.

Lizzy grinned in anticipation then frowned and tapped something out on the door frame: _Do you think_ _it was the right thing to do?_

Even though Lizzy was only nine, she was above her grade level in math so we decided to put her in Algebra 1 with me. Unlike most older brothers, I was looking forward to class with my little sister. Because we stuck her in a much more advanced class, she had to take science and gym with me also. Liz was going to love Biology. We were surprised when the principle didn't fight us on it, but I suppose he took a look at her test scores.

"Of course," was my immediate reply. I meant it, too.

I headed to my own home room, which was also English, in high spirits. My smile did not waver as I stepped into the class room to dead silence; they had known I was coming. Being stranded alone in the midst of the 'enemy' was nothing new, but it would take a whole different type of fighting style to win this war. Everyone stared at me for a moment before bursting out into a choking cloud of questions.

"Are you really from New York?"

"Why'd you move?"

"I heard your dad got fired."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

I only heard one question out of the many they were throwing at me. My smile disappeared and I turned towards the girl that had asked it.

"I don't date."

That pulled everyone up short. Not date? How could someone in High School not date? This city kid was weird!

Whispers started to circulate as the teacher entered. "Class, quiet down and take your seats." The teacher wasn't in the least intimidating with wild blond hair, a high forehead, and average height. Though he did seem to have the respect of the class as they had complied almost instantaneously and were now back to their silence. I could feel their eyes on me, sizing me up.

"Oh!" The teacher said when he noticed me a moment later. "You must be Gregor. I'm Mr. Manny." He extended a hand and I shook it. "You can take a seat by Remy."

I looked where he was pointing and bit back a sigh. Remy was the girl that had asked if I had a girlfriend. It was going to be a long class if I was going to be stuck sitting next to her for the next two hours.

I was surprised when she didn't utter a word to me through the whole hour and a half lecture on poetry. I took my time studying her from the corner of my eye as I could feel others doing to me. She was pretty, I suppose, with strait, strawberry blond hair, chocolate brown eyes, and an army of freckles that marched across nose. Results of lots of sun, no doubt, like everybody else.

The whole class was as brown as a basket of nuts. I looked like a pale ghost next to them, in my smudged blue jeans, long sleeve shirt, and very light farmers tan. I didn't dare let myself get too dark over the summer because my scars don't tan. Only a few of them reached up over the caller of my shirt, but became more noticeable the darker I got.

~…*…~

When Mr. Manny final stopped talking and dismissed the class, I was out of my seat and down the hall before the bell had even begun to ring; running for the math room before anybody had time to speak. Even with my bag weighed down with school books, it took me barely two minutes to reach the appropriate door and I wasn't even the first one there. It was Lizzy, leaning against the wall with her math book already open and pencil tapping away on her chin in thought. I huffed and dropped my bag on the floor next to hers before reclining against the somewhat faded blue paint.

Most would have thought she was unaware of what was going on around her when she was like this, but after apparently finding and writing down the answer to the equation she had been contemplating, she closed the book gently and looked over. "Did you run here?" she asked, obviously not surprised at my sudden presence.

"Yeah," I said, shrugging.

It had ceased to amaze me a couple of years ago how well she was able to read me; whether it be an emotion I was trying to hide or the fact that I had just done a six corridor dash and had no sweat, heavy breathing, or increased heart rate to show for it. She could still tell; though, the how would probably remain a mystery.

She blinked and raised an eyebrow. "That excited for Algebra?" Lizzy asked teasingly, knowing full well I wasn't very fond of math.

"Not as much as you." I replied with a nudging elbow and we scrambled off the floor as the bell finally began to ring. Class room doors opened and spewed students out into the halls, most heading for their lockers before next class. "Let's go grab a desk before the others get here." I told her, then sliped inside the now empty room, devoid of even a teacher.

We grabbed a desk all the way in the back, hoping –at least I was- to be able to cut down on the staring that way. There were back packs on all six doubles in the last row so I moved one up. A couple of people trickled in as we got settled; mostly ignoring us with a few curious glances here and there. Not all that unexpected really, we were the new kids in a rather small county school. Though, I did notice a couple of double takes when they noticed Lizzy, but that was probably because she looked way too young to be in a freshman class.

We didn't have to wait long for the rest to come streaming in. They all seamed to know where they were sitting like it were prearranged. More looks were being sent our way with a varying of emotions, but I didn't think much of it until Remy entered. Spotting me almost immediately, she began to head over, weaving here way between desks and students. Then she seemed to pause as something caught her attention in the row in front of us. Sending me a slightly appraising look complete with raised eyebrows, she changed her course to the row by the windows where some of her friends appeared to be.

_What…?_ I thought as Remy joined in the conversation, observing us from the corner of her eye. As it turned out, Remy hadn't been the only one eyeing us up. I caught several others darting glances at us and voices were lowered as if to discus some great secret. They were waiting for something and we were just about to find out what.

A big, buff-looking girl walked in and headed right towards us, her eyes narrowing when she saw the moved bag. From everyone's reactions, I felt as if I should have known who this was. The others had gone relatively quiet as the brown haired girl approached, the occasional whispered remark and the creaking of seats the only sounds. Then it occurred to me who this must have been.

Ah, crap. Wasn't it just my luck I had decided to sit in Amanda Masco's chair on the first day? What was it Uncle Rick liked to say? In for a calf, in for a cow. Well, we were going to find out just what the most feared bully (which is what Sara called her) in Gansly was like. Lizzy must have come to a similar conclusion, because I felt her hunched down a bit in her seat with the newly named Amanda right in front of us.

"Hi," I said nonchalantly, purposely not looking at her and over her shoulder instead.

"Get out of my chair." She practically growled as she loomed over us.

"You forgot the magic word." I replied, still not looking her in the face. I could almost _feel_ the rest of the room holding its breath.

Lizzy, on the other hand, had put her head on her fist, plastered a 'this is really boring' look on her own face, and stared straight up at the other girl. "You know," she said conversationally, "you don't look all that intimidating to me."

Lizzy had an amazing poker face when she chose to use it, but I could still tell that was bull. The hand not holding her head up was currently fisted in the knee of her jeans under the desk where most couldn't see. I could see Amanda glaring at me from the corner of my eye, clearly having the desired effect even though she was apparently choosing to ignore the younger girl's comment.

"Move, now," she commanded.

"Mmm, no I don't think I will." I said flatly, finally meeting her eyes.

Strong hazel stared into stubborn blue in a battle of wills and I speculated at what she could see there. Maybe the fights I had fought and won, or the things I had fought and killed. Perhaps the things I had seen, the people I had lost. I remembered hearing somewhere that the eyes were the windows to the soul and I wondered what mine was telling her about me.

I heard the few people who were close enough to see my face gasp. Amanda stepped back, looking a bit shell shocked. She sat at the other desk. A collective breath was taken by the class as a whole and the whispers began as the teacher entered unnoticed.

I looked over at Lizzy, who wore an expression of recognition and awe that melted into contemplation.

When asked later, my little sister would tell me that I had, in that moment, carried the same look in my eyes as could periodically be found in Ripred's when he didn't particularly care to hide it. "A little bit of everything", she would tell me, "from your experiences _down there_." Then Lizzy would shrug, pat me comfortingly on the arm, and state in a matter of fact manor that, "It isn't nearly as scary or as intimidating as the look you carry when you fight." A pause. "Like naked steal and the viciousness of a hunter who knows he's going to win", is how she described it before going into the house for supper.

**A/N: **Next update: next week, same time.


	5. Chapter Four (revised)

Chapter Four

_Abby's POV_

There was a scuttling sound and something ran over my foot.

I sighed tiredly,_ Rats._

I didn't even bother doing more than grunt in disgust as the little paws thumped their way up and over my foot. It just wasn't worth the effort when that had to be the sixtieth one I've come in contact with since I had reached this part of the tunnel. It was decidedly stone –definitely not concrete- and naturally formed. It gave off the feel of never being touched by a human before, which was both an understandable and an odd feeling. Understandable because there was no way any normal person would have survived in this perpetual darkness long enough to make this far and odd because you could never quite feel the same way from anything on the surface.

Mildly gritty water dripped from stalagmites (or were they stalactites? I could never remember the difference) on the ceiling now roughly twenty feet above my head to hit my crown and slide down my hair. I was uncomfortable damp after only ten minutes in, but I was too stubborn to turn back. I could smell green things ahead and didn't care if I had to wriggle a couple hundred feet on my stomached like a worm to reach them.

Call me picky, but after wandering an estimated time of between three and four weeks down here eating only mushrooms (they didn't usually taste all the great, but I could tell they weren't poisonous) I would do just about anything to get myself on a piece of fruit or a vegetable. Even asparagus would do and _hated _asparagus.

_How sad is that?_ I thought dejectedly. _Never thought I would ever say that, my mother would be shocked speechless right about now. Mom… No! No thinking about it! The more you think about, the more depressed you feel. The more depressed you feel the heavier scent trail you leave. Then something will come along, catch your scent, follow it all the way to you then eat you. And you do not want to be eat so don't think about it!_

My bare feet padded silently across the mostly smooth rock floor; my shoes abandoned days ago after the soles had been worn completely through. It was rather sad, but I couldn't remember when I had stated talking to myself like I had another person in my head with me. Maybe that's what having multiple personalities felt like, but I just felt like I was losing it. If I didn't find light soon –and more food- I was going to snap completely.

Tripping over a bump in the path I hadn't noticed in time, I took in a deep sniff. The smell of green things (among other, less pleasant smells) flooded in and lifted my spirits. It was amazing what I could smell without the plugs in (learning to cope without them was a rather long-lasting and dizzying experience). Plants meant light because they needed it to grow. Photo synthesis or something like that. Whatever it was, the next six or so miles left to go would be well worth it if this all panned out.

I could only hope.

~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~

_Angelina's POV_

I glanced over at Larry three desks in front and to the right, then to the desk he _would_ have had if he were speaking to me (which would have been right behind where Gregor should have been sitting if he weren't a couple states down the coast). I returned to staring out the window with a barley contained sigh. He _should_ have been talking to me _now_; after all, we three had been best friends since second grade. That was exactly the problem, though. The _three_ of us had been friends. But, after Gregor left for Virginia with his family, everything seemed to fall apart in slow motion.

No- that was a lie. It was about three years earlier than that that everything started to fall apart. Back when Gregor had "come down with the flue" in sixth grade. I have no idea what really went down, but do I know it didn't have anything to do with the common cold. Whatever happened couldn't have been anywhere near common- not with how different Gregor had become afterwards.

To be honest, I don't really think that first part was really the last of it. I had suspicions that there were several other times that something had been going on that he had tried (and unfortunately succeed) to keep us in the dark about.

I knew Larry had believed him, but I don't think I ever could. Nothing had added up. Nothing had been the entire truth if it had ever actually contained some at all. 'Nothing' was most certainly not what had happened.

It had been over a month since I had thought about any of that, but I would be lying if I didn't know why. I glanced down at the phone in my lap, glanced up at the teacher, and unobtrusively flipped it open. A few pushed buttons later brought me to the text message dated three days ago.

Sender name: Gregor's Mom. The message was relatively short and to the point, but with an overall feeling of a pleading mother desperate not to have her son alone for the rest of his life. I smiled sadly and looked over at Larry again. I wonder if he had got a similar message and what he thought of it. Maybe I would approach him over lunch and ask.

_Gregor, what the hell is going on with you?_

~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~

_Howard's POV_

I watched as Luxa flew away from the palace on Aurora, presumably heading to the arena for training. Lately, the more I watched her go through the motions of everyday life, the more worried I became. In front of the people she was the strong and commanding queen who had everything under control, but, when she thought she was alone, she dropped the façade like a piece of clothing and put her face in her hands. Often, she would get this far away look in her eyes and not hear a word someone said to her or stare aimlessly into space in the middle of dinner.

These things only happened around family such as Hazard or my self, but they worried me all the more because of it. I know Ripred has noticed, albeit he has not mentioned it yet. Maybe he is trying to keep the others from noticing; I do not know. Though, it is clear by his mannerisms around her that Vikus has known for some time. Not surprising, as he is one of her top advisers, head of the council and her grandfather.

One of the things that scared me the most was that I knew –knew with utter certainty- that one of the only things besides duty and Hazard holding her together was the hope and promise of his return. Gregor's return to her. Gregor, a name we never said out loud much anymore, but I was willing to bet that many of those closest to her thought an offal lot about as she sank further and further into herself.

Becoming like a ghost that wore masks to hide away everything from her people so that they would not worry. We worried, though. Ripred, Vikus, and I; even Hazard had noticed a while ago and had been doing everything he could think of to make Luxa smile. She was the most important person to him after all, his adoptive elder sister. My adoptive younger sister since the incident with Henry.

I shook my head to dispel all the troubling thoughts and headed down to the hospital. I had a eight hour shift to get through before I could let such thoughts occupy my mind again.

~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~

_Lizzy's POV_

It's been several weeks after the thing with Amanda on the first day and there has been no sign of trouble. The event seemed to have an interesting effect on the school populace and, since then, no one has bothered Gregor with anything. Even as a prospective friend, which, granted, is the way I think he prefers it most of the time.

Gregor had become something of a loner after he came back up, denied of the way of life he was used to after so long. Though, I can tell Gregor's lonely even if he doesn't talk about it. Of course, the probability of finding the constant and close companionship of Areas, the gruff and rough understanding he had shared with Ripred , or the strong and protective love he had with Luxa with some on the surface was so small it would have been laughable if it hadn't been so depressing. (That goes double for the last one as he is very much still attached.)

I wasn't down there nearly as long or as often, but even I hadn't known what to do with the 'regular', modern life afterwards. So imagining what it must have felt like for him is pretty much impossible. Boot's was the only one easily adjusted out of all of us, being only three and a half at the time.

Because of my very presence at the side of my brother during that incident, not many will talk to me either, but I can't really find it in me to care at this point. Besides, I have friends; they're just a couple hundred miles below my feet. Why should I make friends and put down roots in a place I didn't plan on staying in for very long anyway? At some point, the opportunity to go back will come and I'll be ready to take it and run. I'm not so worried about breaking up the family anymore. If I go back, Gregor will be with me every step of the way toting an older Boots and the others will follow.

I'm sure of it.

~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~

_Grace's POV_

I watched worriedly as they got ready for school. Margret chattered constantly about her classes and all her friends to her attentive father, swinging on his hand in excitement. Gregor and Lizzy silently stood side by side with their school bags, waiting for the bus to appear at the end of the long drive. If Boots was friends with everyone, Lizzy and Gregor were friends with no one (or, at least, none that they spoke of).

No one came by to see them, no one called, nor did they go over anyone's house or even stay late after school for a club. They stuck to themselves and each other, not socializing with anyone outside of the family. _Or_, she corrected herself;_ Gregor and Lizzy do not _actively_ socialize with anyone other than a relative._ They were polite -ridiculously so- while keeping most at a proverbial arms minute Sara's or Rachel's or Rodney's friends showed up did the two of them disappear off to some unknown location until the non-relatives had left the property.

They had excuses for every time of course.

"I had a head ach and they were being too loud"; "I had to clean out the stalls and I didn't get to do it this morning"; And, when Lizzy were really stretching, "I was just exploring the woods and looking for good climbing trees". Those were just three; they had come up with hundreds that they used over the course of the eight months we had been in Virginia. Legitimate as they usually were –they never lied to me- I couldn't help feeling that little bit of hope I had been nursing for so long that they would be able to move on shrink just a bit more.

Every time they avoided my eyes when I asked them if they wanted to invite someone over. Every time they stopped talking when they realized I was within ear shot. Every time Margaret went to them with a bad dream. I was being bypassed in almost everything it felt like. There seemed to be nothing I could do about it, either; though it did not appear to bother William. He- I shook myself from my musings and looked back towards the kids.

I stood next to Margaret at the end of the drive way and watched as Gregor and Lizzy got on their bus. I felt myself frowning at what I saw. The minute they climbed on, there seemed to be a shift in the atmosphere. The bus was nearly full since this was the last stop, so there were only a couple seats left here and there, all singles.

As I watched, frown deepening, several of the kids changed there seating arrangements until two consecutive seats were produced. The bus driver ignored it, like it happened every day and was no longer worthy of comment. The kids didn't seem all that perturbed or disgruntled by it either, like it was all part of the daily routine.

That one pulled away and Margaret's' bus arrived. She got on, waving from the window as it too pulled away. I waved back, the smile I had dredged up for her receding in the wake of the frown. I felt like it was stuck on my face.

William came up behind me, gravel crunching under his heavy work boots, and rested his hands on my shoulders to rub the tenseness and the knots away. Or, at least, to try to.

"I'm so confused, Will. I-" I licked my lips and tried again "I just-" I took in a deep breath in and went into a full body shudder as I let it out. "I just don't understand what's going on in their heads. I had hoped that- that after a little _time_ to settle in and get comfortable, they would be _fine_, but that doesn't seem to be _happening_. I tried so _so_ hard to keep us all together in the middle of all of it and, with them being like this, it just feels like- like-" I pulled away from his ministrations and waved my hands around, looking for the right words.

"Like they're throwing it back in my face!" I shouted, not caring if anyone heard me at this point. "Like they don't even care! Like they would rather fall back into all that war and pain and blood and killing than attend High school!" My hands seemed to wave around violently of their own accord to express the confusion filling me.

I whipped around to face him, tears welling up in my eyes. "Why won't they just settle in Will? I over heard Lizzy and Gregor talking about that place again, before they realized I was there and clamed up. Why won't they _let it go!_? They _know_ I won't allow them back down there." I shook my head as I said it, "Not after all that." All the conflicting emotions seemed to swell up as I whispered that last part.

"Why?" Tears ran down my cheeks; tears of anger, frustration, hurt, and desperation. "Why can't they understand that this family is being torn apart from the inside out over this? I don't understand…. I'm starting to think I'll never understand."

William stared at me for a moment, face drooping in with obvious sadness and resignation –a mirror of my own, most likly- before hugging me to his chest. "You have to give them more time. They got attached to that place and the people who live there. Anyone would have after what they went through with them. They need more time to come to terms with not seeing any of them again. You know that."

"I gave them time!" I yelled in frustration. "We've been here almost a _year_. They haven't been back there in _three._ They should be over it by now! I don't know how much more waiting I can stand." I said, wiping away my tears with the back of my hand. "What do they see in that place ravaged by war? It tore this family apart like wet tissue paper and all they want to do is go back. It doesn't seem to matter that the things down there took you away from us for over two years, that the fighting and violence robed my son of his childhood and innocence. It made him a murderer and a killer at eleven. Eleven, Will!"

I stopped speaking, I was crying too hard. For the first time in years, I didn't know what to do or what would happen. I wasn't in control of what was going on in my children's lives anymore.

It appeared I had lost that privilege long ago.


	6. Chapter Five (revised)

Chapter Five

_Gregor's POV_

Even before I had stepped in side the gym I could tell something was going to happen today. The air felt different. Everyone was too excited, too energetic for us to be doing the same old sports. As I stepped through the doors and saw just how right I was and realized just how much I wished I weren't.

On the gym floor were several light green mats. I knew it couldn't be gymnastics, that never garnered this much excitement, so what….? That's when I saw the pile of individually packaged mouth guards and foam helmets. I frowned in thought before it clicked.

Oh _no_, this was _not _happening.

I nudged the guy next to me, Mark. He was the only one that really ever talked to me like a normal person. You could see it on everyone else's face that they were unsure of how to act around me, but not Mark. He was always cool as a cucumber about everything. Except now.

"Hey, Mark," I said when he looked at me, "what's with those?"

"Dude," he grinned, "We're doing hand to hand combat today."

I half expected him to start jumping up in down he was thrumming with so much excited.

"Huh," was all I said. I sighed half in resignation and half in annoyance. My week had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.

Lizzy came bursting in through the doors a minute later and took one look around before saying, "Oh. _Oh_." She raised her eyebrows at the seen then turned to me. "Well, life just got complicated."

"You read my mind." I replied dryly, ignoring Mark's questioning look.

I turned my attention to some guy in cameo pants and matching tee, but zoned out when he started demonstrating the basic punches and how to block them. Hand to hand combat my foot, this was going to boring as all get out.

"Hey, space cadet! Are you paying attention?"

I looked around and realized the instructor was talking to me.

"Uh, yeah, I'm paying attention." I said with my best attempt at a straight face as everyone around me snickered.

The guy (I didn't catch his name) gave me the typical adult-caught-kid-doing-something-wrong look before beckoning me forward. Warily, I stepped out onto the mat -devoid of both boots and socks-, dreading what I knew to be coming next.

"Okay, if you were listening to what I was telling the class, you should know what you're doing," he said in a condescending tone, making it clear he thought I was lying through my teeth.

I couldn't help rolling my eyes. I mean, really?

He ignored me and continued. "Have you ever taken any self defense classes or any thing like that?"

My mind flashed back to several very violent training sessions I had had with Mareth and several others in the arena. For someone with only one leg, he sure had a mean kick.

"A few."

I heard Lizzy nearly choke on her own breath while trying valiantly not to laugh from her position behind me. Okay, so it was a bit of an understatement, no one else needed to know that.

The man grinned. "Here, you'll need these." He handed me a foam helmet and a pre boiled mouth guard.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust at them before putting them on.

_If only Ripred could see me now….. He would be laughing is rear end off, that's what he'd be doing if he saw me wearing this. I'd never hear the end of it. _

I shook my head at the image and looked back at what's-his-name.

Seeing that I was ready, he said, "Give me your best."

I had to question this guy's sanity. He was just going to have me attack him?

"Really. Kick, punch, what ever. Come at me with all you've got. We'll give the class a demonstration."

My Rager side was already coming out and it said that this guy was getting too big for his boots and needed to be cut down at the knees.

I was inclined to agree.

I stood there completely relaxed, trying not to give away my game. My Rager side started to buzz, my vision fractured, and I couldn't help smiling with the feeling.

There was another feeling underlying the Rager sensation that took me a second to identify. Then I realized, I wanted this fight. I wanted this fight in the worst way. It was the only opportunity I've had since the Underland to let go.

This guy was a professional -if a little cocky- so it was okay to let go. That's what the little voice in my head insisted anyway. He was army trained; he could take it. I would just have to keep it low key so I didn't bring up _too_ many questions. Didn't exactly need someone to wonder how exactly I was capable of breaking the arm of a man roughly forty pounds over my weight.

Grinning, I lunged.

~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~

_Lizzy's POV_

This…was not going to end well. What in the world was my idiot brother thinking? If he blew it by neglecting to keep himself in check, we were screwed. Questions would be coming from every which way and the police would want to know how a supposedly 'untrained' (I couldn't help but snort at that particular description) Freshman had beaten a twenty something army-trained solder to a bloody pulp.

Eyes would be drawn to hastily covered up disappearances and half backed excuses. An investigation would be started; the family secret un rooted. The Underland exposed. The trouble it would bring; for _everyone_-

This was just not going to end well.

~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~…*…~

_Gregor's POV (again)_

I lost all track of time and even some memory to a blur of movement. The Rager sensation had taken complete control, happy to be given some slack; though, that was all it was going to get today.

I was happy to finally be able to let it loose for a bit; the tension of keeping it all in winding me so tight I might have completely snapped given half a chance.

His face told me he was overwhelmingly surprised by my agility as I dodged what would have been a tap of the knuckles to the shoulder. I responded with a strike to ribs that had him gasping in surprise but nothing more. I wanted to spar, not see how black and blue we could get each other. That quickly changed as he continued to up the stakes as I proved again and again that I knew what I was doing.

It had gone from an example to a test to a full on sparring match until the blows were really starting to hurt.

I gave an "Oomph" as a kick connected with my mid section and I flew backwards, landing at the edge of the mat in a barely achieved crouch. The air left my stunned lungs in a whoosh. My vision cleared for a moment before breaking up again as my opponent came bearing down on me. I rolled to the side and swiveled around on one knee, sweeping his feet from under him for the second time in I didn't know how long.

The second his back hit the floor, I was on him. We grappled around for a minute before I managed to get back on top despite my smaller size and lighter weight. I really don't remember how I got there, but I knew it something to do with a pressure point. I blinked and I was straddling the guy's chest with my palm millimeters from his nose, fingers bent at the last two knuckles.

I almost laughed with relief that I managed not to break his nose. _Hit hard enough and at the right angle, the bones and cartilage of the nose can be shoved up into the brain instantly killing the target, _Mareth's voice echoed around my head. _Be careful with your strikes and align them with your intensions. To accidentally kill someone you only meant to disarm or maim would be a hard thing to live with; and live with it you would have to._

I climbed off and stood up, looking the guy over. He had quite a few bruises that would turn a nasty shade of yellow before they healed, but he would survive. As for me, I didn't have nearly as many burses, but I did have a cut on my forehead that was the source of the blood running down my face.

_Where did I get that?_

I looked down in time to see my opponent push himself up with one hand. His sleeve pulled back and I saw the gold edge of a wrist watch.

_Well that answers my question._

I crouched down and tapped the watch.

"You know you're not supposed to fight with that on, right? 'Cause it could seriously harm someone." I raised an eyebrow.

He looked up at me and zeroed in on my face, specifically the cut.

"You have to get that bandaged up," he said, like neither the blood nor the fact that a fifteen year old had managed to kick his professional butt fazed him at all.

I was beginning to really like this guy if it weren't for the look in his eye. A look I had seen on a few faces before when my opponent thought they had me right where they wanted me and were coming in for the kill.

But all he did was clamber to his feet and look around. "Which way to the nurse's office?" he asked Mark, who was incidentally the only one that didn't have his jaw touching the floor.

"Uh, umm….uh….." Mark closed and opened his mouth several times before starting to speak again, "Uh, it's…uh."

A loud sigh came from the middle of the group and Lizzy pushed her way out. "No need." She said in a board voice, "I'll do it."

She walked over and took one look at all the blood before turning to the other guy. "You," she said, stabbing a finger in his direction, "call yourself a professional? Because I would say not. No professional forgets to take of his jewelry before a fight. You could have taken my brothers eye out or gotten your wrist snapped because you had it on. You are most definitely not a professional in the least if you forget something like that."

She turned back to me with narrowed eyes. "And you," she said, voice softening, "you know better. If you had been paying more attention, you would have seen that he had forgotten to take it off before hand and you wouldn't have all that blood drying on your face."

Lizzy took out what could only be called a handkerchief and spit on it. She proceeded to wash all the crud off while the rest of the class re-discovered the power of speech. Not half a minute later and whispered conversations were in full swing and many a glance flew in their direction. They were uneasily noted by the two, but still ignored in favor of other things. Like the blood on Gregor's face.

When Liz scraped over the cut just a little too hard, I flinched and took a step back, not realizing how close I was to the bleachers.

I tripped and fell backwards, landing hard at an awkward angle on one of the steps.

Pain shot through the left side of my back and I cried out, "Argh!"

Heads turned and I sucked in air through my teeth with a hiss. My lungs wouldn't extend to their full capacity. Lizzy's eyes met mine in a clear question. Grimacing at the constant pain the hitch in my back was sending out, I forced myself to my feet with carefully even breaths.

_Back- hurts- later- away from eyes._ I tapped out choppily on the wall I was casually using for support.

Realizations filled her face and she moved in closer as the bell range and the instructor called the class dismissed.

**A/N: **Gregor's back is still paining him in this, but it's not as bad as I had original wrote it. I have a plan that something else is going to make it much worse and how the nurse is involved.


	7. Chapter Six (revised)

**A/N:** This was kinda sorta maybe supposed to be up for New Years... but when the heck am I ever on time?

Chapter Six

_Abby's POV_

Something was stalking me.

I had yet to see it or hear it, but I could smell it and it was getting closer by the hour. I had gained the tail at what was my best guess of roughly seven hours ago and I couldn't shake it. Having neither slept nor eaten for what felt like a whole day (or is it 'night'?) before the hunt began, I was on the verge of collapse.

Despite my exhaustion, I carried on doggedly through a passage filled with a foul smelling mist, my long sleeve shirt tied over my nose and mouth in an attempt to block some of the fumes. I was soaked to the point of being unable to get any wetter and shivering violently in only my tank-top and jeans. I could feel every bump, scrape, and bruise I had managed to acquire over…however long I had been down here as I forced myself to keep moving. With how much blood I probably left smeared on the rocks that defined this world-buried-in-the-dark, I should count myself lucky to have only one creature out to eat me, I was sure. But, as the rough surface of the floor and sharp, unexpected edges that morphed out of the walls left me covered in scratches and abrasions, I couldn't seem to find it in myself to feel neither lucky nor grateful.

_I can't keep going on like this. _I stumbled over air and barely caught myself before I went down._I'm going to hit my head and bleed to death, contract a fatal case of pneumonia, or get eaten by my giant furry friend! _

I tripped again, slamming my shoulder into the tunnel wall I hadn't realized was so close. Sinking to my knees on the cold and damp stone, I bent over clutching my stomach and tried to catch my breath. My lungs were working over-time. My senses were reeling. My head pounded. It was amazing I hadn't thrown up from it all, but then again…there didn't seem to be a whole lot in the organ to expel. My shoulder throbbed painfully, a small trickle of blood from a tiny puncture wound on arm flowed freely, adding to the already nauseating smell. My throat felt roughened by sand paper every time I inhaled with no water to sooth it.

_I can't breathe! _I cried out in my head as I desperately tried to suck in life-giving oxygen. _I can't- I can't- I CAN'T BREATHE! _With a sharp yank, I pulled the thick fabric off my face and gulped in air. The moister in the air seemed to clear my airway even as I gagged on the smell of rot and death and…. I whipped my head up so fast, I almost got whiplash and the darkness swirled. Through the muggy grossness in the air around me, I could smell- I could smell- _green_. It was so much like inhaling little spurts of forest and grass and garden that it couldn't be anything else. Growth and living things never smelled so good until just then, when the barest of traces came through the scent screen. Hope welled up within me, coaxing extra strength into my limbs as I climbed unevenly to my tired feet with the help of the wall.

"Come on girl, you can do this." I muttered into the nothing I could see with a nod. I had quickly slid into talking aloud to myself within the first twenty-four hours of being down here as the mind numbing, never-ending blackness slowly sent me towards the edge of madness. "You're going crazy -absolutely batty- but you can do this." I slid my foot over the marginally bumpy surface that made up the floor and started forward. "You don't want to get eaten, right? You want to make it to a ripe old age, even if it's just to spite whatever jerk all the way upstairs decided to stick you down here don't you?"

Taking in raspy breaths of gag-worthy mist, I fought to continue to put one foot in front of the other until I broke into a shuffling run. Something indefinable echoed down the passage behind me and I stumbled as I automatically opened my eyes to glance behind. Of course I couldn't see anything, but the gentle whoosh of vapor displaced by a large body came to my ears. The unmistakable odder of whet fur came with it, spurring me onward.

"I'm not going to be any furry monster's chow now!" I laughed out loud, sounding happy and desperate and just a little bit mad to my ears. Legs pumping, feet pounding, and coughing up a storm, I completely ignored the muscles screaming for rest and kept going. The smell of green was getting stronger as was the wet fur. The scrabble of claws preceded it as it ate up the ground behind me.

_I don't want to die._ _I don't want to die. I don't want to die! _Was the mantra bouncing around the inside of my head like a big mental rubber ball.

"Arrrggghhhhhh!" I cried as a particularly sharp piece of stone cut into the side of my foot as I scraped over it. I went down in a tumble that took me head over heels forward. I cracked a knee against the wall that curved sharply to the right and effectively stopping my forward momentum. With the sound of nails against stone egging me on, I pushed away the pain and ignored the blood dripping down that threatened to make my footing slippery in favorer of limping on.

"I don't want to die," I muttered quietly. "I just want to get out of here. I can't take any more of this darkness… I just want a light…any light…" I wiped at the water rolling out from under my closed lids with the hand I wasn't using to keep in contact with the wall. "Is that too much to ask for?"

The sound of claws against stone reverberated down the tunnel as I finally spotted a sliver of light blocked by the corridor's sharp corner. It was the first spot of light I had seen in probably a month and it was blinding and quite possibly the last piece of light I might ever see. But right now I felt that was okay because I was rounding the corner and no longer stumbling over stone in the dark, but many things that were long and green in a light that was so bright it had to be the surface of the sun.

My foot caught for the last time and all I could think as I hit the ground was that green was the most wonderful smell in the world.

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_Lizzy's POV_

Keeping my head down, I tried to ignore the not-so-quiet gossip sessions going on at the lockers. "_Act_ normal, _look_ normal, and they'll _see_ normal," I muttered under my breath as I hurried towards my next class. "_Don't_ make eye contact. _Don't_ linger. _Don't_ do _anything_ to attract attention." It was a routine I'd perfected after months of use. A little something I found that generally helped keep people from asking questions. "Just get to the classroom; no-one will bother you in the presence of a teacher."

I knew later I'd probably find something almost funny about how much I felt the need to convince myself of these facts, but right now I was too worried about my chances of making it to Mr. Wang without incident. Not that it was likely to happen. I had my fingers crossed anyways. (Every little bit helps, right?)

The Odds were dropping with every furtive look in my direction and the 'whispered' exclamations of "Did you hear-?", "You've got to be joking!" and "No, _seriously_!" Despite my apprehension -or perhaps because of it- every noise seemed to be amplified. My heart was beating like a humming bird's wings as all the sound contained in the hallway rebounded off the floor, ceiling, and walls right to my ears. The scuff of dozens of rubber-soled shoes turned into an army. The many conversations formed into a rainforest of loud, senseless chatter. The sound of metal doors hitting equally metal frames morphed into cannon blasts. I winced as someone slammed their locker door harder than was strictly necessary, my ears starting to ring from the vibrations.

Hefting my backpack higher up on my hunched shoulders, I turned the corner and locked my eyes on the door half way down. Almost there. I kept my pace steady, not wanting to look to eager as it's just as likely to draw attention as walking too slowly. For a moment, I let my hopes rise only to have them crashing back down under the weight of the condescension dripping from the words I heard next.

"Hey, look. It's the little freak, all alone. Where's your big bad brother now? Thinks he's 'to cool for school' after the stunt he pulled on the mats?" The too-loud voice made me flinch.

I paused and took a deep breath in through my mouth before letting it out through my nose. I could all but feel the Odds slipping away as I turned, like sand clenched in my fist. The identity of the speaker- or more accurately, speakers_-_ came as no surprise as another joined with, "Yeah… It's not really like your loyal little guard dog to leave you alone for so long." The veiled cruelty in there eyes joined with sneers to twist the tan faces of the three normally attractive sophomores. "Where's tall, dark, and demented now?"

These three were whom Jenna, my lab partner in Biology, called the 'Ed, Ed, and Eddy' of both Gansly's junior high and high school 'bully squad'. They acted like they owned the place and had the right to lord anything and everything on everyone in a lower grade, but I new for a fact that at least half had been kept back a grade for one reason or another. This is probably why they had latched onto me from the near beginning as I had managed to skip at least one grade in each of my classes. Wrinkling my nose at the dog comment, I resolved not to respond and started to turn back around when the third boy spoke.

"We know you told your teachers he was in the nurse's office; Harrison here swung by to check. Guess who wasn't there?"

The teacher had been skeptical of Gregor's absence in Algebra and again in English, but both had politely dropped the subject after I told them he was at the nurse's office. (Even though I was positive he'd skipped out on the trip and was somewhere out skulking on the grounds.)

"The Nurse?" I asked, feigning innocence.

"_Gregor_," came the snarled reply. A hard yank on one strap had me spinning back around before a person much taller than me was invading my personal space. "_Gregor_ wasn't there! Funny, that even after an entire class saw him take a fall that should've given him bruises the size of Texas, but he managed to just walk away to nowhere."

Backing up on instinct, my back hit the wall and I wanted to kick myself for my stupidity. I hocked a loogie in my tormenters face instead, before stomping on his foot. A grunt escaped him as he first tried to pull away (the reaction to the spit), then lean forward in response to the stomp. That was his downfall. He crumpled forward as my knee came up; a perfect example of what Gregor had drilled me on over the year. Evan (at least I'm thinking that's his name- never exactly bothered to ask-) gave a strangled whine and stumbled back into his buddies.

"Sorry!" I called out with no real sincerity, taking advantage of the widening space to kind of scuttle-hop down the hall, "Got to go!" I slowed down by one of the exit doors to massage my aching knee and rub the spot on my chest where my heart was trying to beat its way out. _Well… _I thought drily,_that could have gone better_.

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_Gregor's POV_

A light breeze ruffled the leaves of a wide spread oak, the wind bringing with it the smell of freshly cut hay from a western field. Bees buzzed pleasantly through air to light on the scattered dandelions that had popped up some time after the last mowing. Birds nesting in the surrounding trees chattered incessantly to form a comforting background noise.

I lay sprawled in the oak's shade, eyes closed and grass tickling my face as I rested on my stomach. My back gave a little twinge every time I shifted wrong and made it pointless to try and find a comfortable position face up. I kept my breathing even and relatively shallow, soaking in the last bit of early November warmth like a napping cat.

Lizzy was currently in class, probably taking extra English notes so I didn't have a chance to fall behind. It had actually been at her encouragement that I had skipped out on the rest of my classes with her. I had never played hooky before and would have never thought Lizzy the kind of person to even entertain the idea, but we both felt the inability to sit up in a chair without assistance a valid excuse. I wouldn't have argued even if that wasn't the case; having to sit in those hardwood desk chairs for several hours more would have been a nightmare! With bruised and misaligned ribs, I wasn't going to be doing much of anything if I didn't have to until Lizzy got out here to help pop them out again.

In a way, it was a relief, really, not having to face any of my fellow students for the rest of the day. Or hear the whispers when they think I'm out of earshot (I rarely am on account of my unnaturally extended reach) or see the glances they would send me when they think I won't notice (it's hard to miss all the eyes boring into your back). But, when we come back on Monday, the questions were going to be outright obnoxious. Hopefully the three day weekend would give everyone a cool done (the image of my class mates' faces as I stumbled off the mat flashed through my mind)_…__or maybe not_.

"This is why I hate the rumor mill," I muttered into the weeds with a groan. "People say city schools are bad when it comes to gossip, but small towns have them beaten by miles," I informed the purple and yellow flower seriously. "No-one knows how to keep anything to them-selves here; sticking their noses into everything just to find something to entertain them." I sighed out through my nose, my breath making the little violet dance. "Its go-"

The faint sound of a slamming door made me pause and cock my head to listen. I wasn't disappointed when hurried footsteps became apparent a few seconds later. At first I thought it might have been Lizzie, but they were too heavy to be her. While the added weight of her back pack, (I would be the first to admit it weighed a ton) could add quite a bit of force to her otherwise quiet tread, it was in fact the existence of said backpack that told me for certain it wasn't her. She simply wasn't strong enough to both carry it and keep up the pace. It did, however, sound familiar.

But I digress. Familiar or not, I had to either stand up and face them or boot out of here ASAP. For whatever reason, the person was moving rather quickly and as I was not so inclined, so I'd only made it to a kneeling position before the owner of the oh-so possibly familiar gate came dashing onto view. It was Mark who nearly passed right by me and my tree before skidding to a halt yards away.

"Great, I've found you." Mark turned to me, panting like a dog locked in a hot car, as I finished making it carefully to my feet. "You need to get out of here, man. It sounds like a mutiny in there, the way the guys are winding each other up."

Straitening all the way, I couldn't hide my wince as my lungs strained to expand as they were supposed to and my back flared. Right, not supposed to be irritating the possibly fractured ribs.

"Dude, are you listening!?" My apparent unconcern plus the fact that I wasn't moving to fast was obviously making him agitated. "Some of the guys really took it the wrong way when you –a lowly, unimpressive, freshman- turned out to be capable of taking down a guy none of them could probably take on in a _group_. I don't know how you managed to keep off the hit list since the start, but this was the last straw. They aren't going to hold back on this one."

"Sorry, Mark, but I'm not going to be able to go far until I get a little help with something-" I paused as the sound of multiple people heading this way echoed forward. "Besides, while I hate being the barer of bad news, I think they're already on there way to finding me."

_This is obviously not my day_, I thought darkly as I counted out three -no, five- separate sets of treads. _This is not going to end well_.


End file.
